After being 'suppressed,' Twins start series vs. Royals

The Minnesota Twins will look to rebound from being shut out for the first time this season when they open a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night in Minneapolis.

The Twins mustered just five hits and left seven runners on base in an 8-0 setback to the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday afternoon.

The loss was Minnesota's sixth in its last eight outings.

"Yeah, they suppressed us today," Twins manager Derek Shelton said of the White Sox. "We hit some balls early that didn't fall and then got behind and really didn't do much."

Shortstop Tristan Gray did plenty to begin the three-game series, hitting a grand slam in Minnesota's 9-6 win over Chicago on Monday before going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs in Tuesday's 6-4 win. Gray, however, ended the series with a thud, committing three errors in the field.

Shelton wasn't interested in blaming Gray. Instead, the manager focused on the Twins winning this series after losing three of four contests to the White Sox last week.

"Two out of three," Shelton said. "Against the team that beat us last week, and we played well in two games. Today, we just got behind early and couldn't climb out of it."

Minnesota will turn to rookie Andrew Morris (1-2, 4.07 ERA) as Thursday's starter against Kansas City's Seth Lugo (2-4, 3.55) in a battle of right-handers.

Morris is getting the nod in the spot of Bailey Ober, who was placed on the 15-day injured list Sunday due to right elbow inflammation.

Morris, 24, struck out a pair of batters in two-thirds of an inning in relief of a no-decision against the White Sox on Tuesday. He has come out of the bullpen in all but one of his 17 appearances this season. He was used as an opener on May 10, retiring the Cleveland Guardians on six pitches in the first inning of a 5-4 Twins win.

Morris will face the Royals for the first time in his career.

Lugo, 36, is 1-3 with a 4.76 ERA in nine career appearances (seven starts) vs. the Twins. He is in his 11th season.

Lugo recorded his third quality start in a row and eighth of the season on Saturday but walked away with a no-decision in a 7-6 loss to the Texas Rangers. Lugo was in line for the win, but reliever Lucas Erceg couldn't hold the lead in a disastrous ninth inning. Lugo yielded three runs (one earned) on six hits in six innings in that outing.

"Felt like my mechanics were in sync and felt like I was really balanced over the rubber landing right and finishing pitches right," Lugo said, per the Kansas City Star.

The Royals claimed two of three games in their series against Cincinnati after posting a 5-2 victory on Wednesday night.

Michael Massey had a go-ahead single in the ninth inning and scored on Nick Loftin's two-run homer. Massey is 8-for-16 with two homers, six RBIs and four runs over his past four games.

Also on Tuesday, the Twins traded right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson to the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations.

Woods Richardson, who was designated for release or assignment on Saturday, is 0-7 with a 7.74 ERA in 12 games (10 starts) this season.

--Field Level Media